Xenoscapa is a genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 of herbaceous

Herbaceous

A herbaceous plant is a plant that has leaves and stems that die down at the end of the growing season to the soil level. They have no persistent woody stem above ground...

, perennial and bulbous plants in the Iris family (Iridaceae

Iridaceae

The Iris family or Iridaceae is a family of perennial, herbaceous and bulbous plants included in the monocot order Asparagales, taking its name from the genus Iris. Almost worldwide in distribution and one of the most important families in horticulture, it includes more than 2000 species...

). It consists of only two species distributed in Africa, and closely related to the genera Freesia

Freesia

Freesia Ecklon ex Klatt is a genus of 14–16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to Africa. Of the 14 species, 12 are native to Cape Province, South Africa, the remaining two to tropical Africa, one species extending north of the equator to Sudan.The genus was named in honor...

and Anomatheca. The genus name is derived from the Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 words xenos, meaning "strange", and scapa, meaning "flowering stem".

Species

The list of Xenoscapa species, with their complete name and authority, and their geographic distribution is given below.

• Xenoscapa fistulosa (Spreng. ex Klatt
  Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt
  Friedrich Wilhelm Klatt 13 February 1825 Hamburg - 3 March 1897 Hamburg, was a German botanist who specialised in the study of African plants.As a child he showed artistic talent, but for financial reasons training and a career in art could not be followed. In 1854 he and his brother took over the...
  
  ) Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, Syst. Bot. 20: 172 (1995). Distributed from Namibia
  Namibia
  Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
  
   to South Africa
  South Africa
  The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
  
  .
• Xenoscapa uliginosa Goldblatt & J.C.Manning, Syst. Bot. 20: 173 (1995). South Africa.